Not assuming that they are or are not - more or less throwing out a “what-if” situation, and wondering how things spread.
I have no qualms about going to Home Depot, Walmart, or the grocery store if I need to pick something up. I’d be out in the park taking photos of birds if they were open...
And, I have Russian friends who tell (anecdotal) stories of wondering if their neighbor should be turned in to the KGB for saying something that appeared to be negative about the Party.
They had heard it through their apartment walls.